Since March I was shifting gears from OTB to rapid time controls
and improving my blitz rating. I needed to down shift and get back to slow play
and practice focusing on thought processes and calculating as the 48th
World Open is G60 matches. So, here’s my
short list of preparation:
- 20% tactical studies
- 10% Opening reviews
- 40% G30 online ( Focus on thought process)
- 30% Middlegame studies (Focus on thought process)
Focus on thought process:
After studying Silman’s Imbalances, Kotov’s trees, Heisman’s “Is this move safe”
and Andy Soltis’ “inner game of chess” I
distilled this to recognizing when to calculate versus when a plan is needed and
evaluating positions as best as possible.
For now, I am trying to recognize when to calculate under the
following:
- Out of opening book preparation
- Sharp positions with a lot of dynamics ( Initiatives and development imbalances)
- Combinational opportunities ( Unprotected pieces, overworked pieces, double attacks)
- Control of weak squares
Sadly, I am so used to playing fast that I tend to recognized
when I should calculate after I made a
move and played a “gut reaction” or a “feel good move”. Recognizing these
triggers now so I can better realign my thought process come WO48.
Hope to see you there.
-Blunderprone
3 comments:
I am playing in the World Open this weekend. I also played in the blitz event on Friday. Lately I've been playing less blitz, and more often with an increment. I am spending more time in postgame analysis, trying to root out common errors and hone my opening repertoire. Three days per week, I am playing in four-round 5+2 blitz tournaments.
Much of my sporadic tactics training is with positions from my own games. Playing a lot on Chess Tempo this spring gave me thousands of such positions.
I'm also trying to play some 30+10 to prepare for the 60+10. I blogged this morning's game.
Looking forward to your thoughts on the experience. I swore off World Opens some time ago, after consistently getting sub-par results and not enjoying the experience. I ascribed that to a combination of an exhausting marathon schedule, often chaotic conditions at the location, and the relatively large number of sandbaggers that come for the large prizes. Not sure if the online version would be very different in that respect, heh.
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